Alan M. Wachman

Alan Michael Wachman (Chinese: 华安澜, pinyin: Huá Ānlán) (October 13, 1958 – June 21, 2012) was a scholar of East Asian politics and international relations, specializing in cross-strait relations and Sino-U.S. relations. He was a professor of international politics at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. Previously he had been the co-director of the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies in the PRC, and the president of China Institute in America.[1][2][3][4]

Alan Michael Wachman
华安澜
Born(1958-10-13)October 13, 1958
Bucks County, Pennsylvania
DiedJune 21, 2012(2012-06-21) (aged 53)
NationalityUnited States of America
Other names华安澜
Known forCross-strait relations
Spouse(s)Laura Hess
Children2
Academic background
Alma materHarvard University (B.A.)
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (M.A.)
Harvard University (M.A.),(Ph.D.)
ThesisConverging quests : identity, nationalism, and democratization in Taiwan (1992)
Doctoral advisorRoderick MacFarquhar
Academic work
DisciplineEast Asian politics and international relations
InstitutionsJohns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies in the PRC
China Institute in America
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy

Education and career

Alan Wachman majored in art history at Harvard University. During his studies he took a course in Asian art, sparking his interest in Asia. In 1980 he graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. His undergraduate thesis was A seated wooden Kuan-yin in the Fogg Art Museum: an analysis of style and an examination of Chinese Buddhist iconography. Having completed his degree, he went to teach English in Taiwan. While abroad he met Paul Hsu, alumnus and board member of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, who encouraged him to pursue graduate studies there.[5][6]

Wachman subsequently attended The Fletcher School. There he studied international relations as part of the Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy program, graduating in 1984. He continued his graduate studies in government at Harvard University, where he completed a Master of Arts in 1988 and a PhD in 1992. His doctoral dissertation was titled Converging quests: identity, nationalism, and democratization in Taiwan.[1][2][6][7]

Book cover for Taiwan: National Identity and Democratization, written by Wachman, published in 1994

From 1993 and until 1995 he became the American Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies in the PRC. From 1995 to 1997 he served in New York as the president of China Institute in America.[1][8]

In 1997 he began to work at The Fletcher School as an assistant professor of international politics, later being promoted to associate professor and gaining tenure. Concurrently, he was involved in other positions. Between 2008 and 2009 he was a fellow in the East Asia Institute's Program on Peace, Governance, and Development in East Asia, as a guest lecturer at Peking University in Beijing, East Asia Institute in Seoul, and Keio University in Tokyo.[1][5][6][8]

Wachman was also a member of the editorial boards of Asia Policy, China Security, Issues and Studies: A Social Science Quarterly on China, Taiwan, and East Asian Affairs and Harvard Studies on Taiwan. His research included grant support from the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, and the East-West Center.[1][8][9]

After a year of battling pancreatic cancer, Alan Wachman died on June 21, 2012 at the age of 53.[8] The Professor Alan M. Wachman Memorial Fund, a scholarship endowed at The Fletcher School in his memory, supports "students engaging in international non-profit work and reflects Alan's fundamental belief in the importance of making the world a better place."[8][10]

Personal life

Alan Wachman was the son of Barbara and Harold Y. Wachman of Lexington, Massachusetts. Harold Y. Wachman was a professor and a director of graduate studies in the department of aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[5]

In 1997 Wachman married Laura Hess, a professor of Chinese at Brown University.[5] They had two children.[11]

Research
Book cover for Why Taiwan? Geostrategic Rationales for China's Territorial Integrity, written by Wachman and published in 2007

Wachman's scholarly work focussed on the study of Chinese foreign relations, Sino-US relations, Taiwan, and cross-strait relations (relations between mainland China and Taiwan). He researched links between diplomatic history and contemporary international security.[12][13][14][15] His books Taiwan: National Identity and Democratization (1994) and Why Taiwan? Geostrategic Rationales for China's Territorial Integrity (2007) contributed to the understanding of cross-strait relations, and informed policy making.[3][16][17] He provided expert testimony to the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission.[18][19]

Wachman also focussed on Mongolia's international relations, particularly with China and the US. During his last years he was working on completing a book about Mongolia’s national security in the context of emerging rivalries among great powers in Asia.[15][20]

Publications
Book cover of The Confucian World Observed: A Contemporary Discussion of Confucian Humanism in East Asia, 1992, edited by Tu Weiming, and Wachman

Books
  • Tu, Weiming; Hejtmanek, Milan; Wachman, Alan M., eds. (1992). The Confucian World Observed: A Contemporary Discussion of Confucian Humanism in east Asia. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0824814519.
  • Wachman, Alan M. (1994). Taiwan: National Identity and Democratization. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-1563243981.
  • Graham, Lawrence; Farkas, Richard P.; Grady, Robert C.; Joffe, George; Studlar, Donley T.; Wachman, Alan M. (2006). The Politics of Governing: A Comparative Introduction. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. ISBN 978-1933116662.
  • Wachman, Alan M. (2007). Why Taiwan? Geostrategic Rationales for China's Territorial Integrity. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0804755542.

Articles

Book chapters
  • Competing Identities in Taiwan chapter in The Other Taiwan. 1945 to the Present edited by Murray A. Rubinsten (Armonk (NY): M.E. Sharpe, 1994)
  • America's Taiwan Quandary: How Much Does Chen's Election Matter chapter in Taiwan's Presidential Politics, Democratization and Cross-Strait Relations in the Twenty-first Century (Taiwan in the Modern World) edited by Muthiah Alagappa (Armonk (NY): M.E. Sharpe, 2001)
  • Constitutional Diplomacy: Taipei's Pen, Beijing's Sword. chapter in Global Studies, China edited by Suzanne Ogden (Dushkin Pub Group, 2005)
  • Did Abraham Lincoln Oppose Taiwan’s Secession from China? chapter in Secession as an International Phenomenon, edited by Don H. Doyle (University of Georgia Press, 2010)
  • Playing by or Playing with the Rules of UNCLOS? chapter in Military Activities in the EEZ, edited by Peter Dutton (Naval War College - China Maritime Studies Institute, 2010)
  • Why China Gets a "Rise" Out of Us: Ruminations on PRC Foreign Relations chapter in The People's Republic of China at 60: An International Assessment, edited by William C. Kirby (Harvard University Press, 2011)

Short essays

Congressional hearings

References
  1. "Dr. Alan M. Wachman" (PDF). Washington DC: United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  2. "Faculty Profile". The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Archived from the original on April 17, 2012.
  3. "Obama's Asia Policy and Cross-Strait Relations: A Trip Report and Tribute to Alan Wachman". Boston: Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies. February 22, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-10-17. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  4. 宿亮 (Su Liang) (January 23, 2013). "【逝者】华安澜：中国问题的现实主义研究者". Beijing: CNpolitics.org. Archived from the original on October 24, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  5. "Laura Hess, Alan Wachman". The New York Times. December 28, 1997. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  6. "Profile: China and the Olympics". Medford, MA: Tufts University. July 14, 2008. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  7. Brehio, Alys (1992). "Doctoral Dissertations in Political Science, 1992". American Political Science Association. 25 (4): 835–850. doi:10.1017/s1049096500036969. JSTOR 419695.
  8. "Fletcher Community Remembers Esteemed Professor Alan Wachman". Boston: The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. June 25, 2012. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  9. "Harvard Studies on Taiwan: Papers of the Taiwan Studies Workshop Volume 3 • 2000 - Foreword". Harvard University. 2000. Archived from the original on September 3, 2007.
  10. "List of Named Scholarships". The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  11. "Measured with a Stretched Cord: Remembrances of Alan Wachman, F84". Boston: The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. December 15, 2012. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  12. "Faculty Research Profiles". The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Archived from the original on April 18, 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  13. Scofield, David (Aug 19, 2004). "China puts Korean spat on the map". Asia Times. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  14. ""Chinese Fever" in a Changing Global Economy -- Taiwan and China Compete for the Chinese Language Education Market : A storehouse of talent for Sinology". Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York - Portal of Republic of China (Taiwan) Diplomatic Missions. May 4, 2005. Archived from the original on 2013-10-20. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  15. "Alan M. Wachman, Ph.D., Professor, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University - Beijing's Battle for Moral Supremacy and Mongolia's Long-Term Interests". Madison, WI: American Center for Mongolian Studies. November 18, 2010. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  16. O'Neil, John (March 20, 2008). "Discussing the Taiwanese Elections". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  17. Copper, John F (May 1995). "Reviewed work(s): Taiwan: National Identity and Democratization. by Alan M. Wachman". The Journal of Asian Studies. 54 (2): 546–547. doi:10.2307/2058784. JSTOR 2058784.
  18. Carolyn Bartholomew (Chairman) (February 1–2, 2007). U.S.-China Relationship:Economics and Security in Perspective. Daniel Blumenthal (Vice Chairman) (CIS Number 2012-J891-6 ed.). Washington DC: United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  19. William A. Reinsch (Chairman) (April 13, 2011). China's Foreign Policy: Challenges and Players. Daniel W. Slane (Vice Chairman) (CIS Number 2012-J891-6 ed.). Washington DC: United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 17, 2013.
  20. Wachman, Alan (May 3, 2012). "Mongolia: Growth, Democracy, and Two Wary Neighbors" (Interview). Interviewed by Allen Wagner. National Bureau of Asian Research. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
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